


One Pulse Left

by indigorose50



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Church Route Spoilers, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Byleth, In This House We Hate Killing Edelgard, M/M, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth, Post-Time Skip, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Surprise Kissing, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29166027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigorose50/pseuds/indigorose50
Summary: Byleth confronts Hubert in Enbarr and tries to end things peacefully. No matter how many Divine Pulses it takes.[Fullfills the following prompts:- Angry kiss- “I’m sorry” kiss- “I almost lost you” kiss]
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Hubert von Vestra
Kudos: 26





	One Pulse Left

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another 'long enough to be worth posting to ao3' story from tumblr! This isn't my usually pairing and it took a long time (and some help) to figure out how to incorporate all the prompts, but I really like how it turned out in the end.

Byleth knew they only had one Divine Pulse left. They knew Hubert was not going to just step aside and let the Knights of Serios push past to Edelgard. They knew Hubert might die on Byleth’s orders again.

But they also weren’t going to give up yet. One Pulse left. One final chance.

This time, they ordered Dorothea to hit Hubert with an Agnea’s Arrow. It wouldn’t do much, with his resistance so high, but Byleth just needed him wounded. A little scuffed up. The more hurt he was, the easier it would be to approach him with words instead of swords. 

Hubert was out of Boltings. Byleth never rewound to the point where he had any left; it had taken so much to egg him into using both without sacrificing one of the Black Eagles. With a wave of their arm, Byleth cued Caspar to use his gambit. Caspar shouted “Go, _go_!” and Byleth watched, tense, as Caspar’s battalion ran Hubert’s down. 

Unable to move now, Hubert was bent almost double, blood splashed over his vest from one of his own men, gasping for air. This was it. Byleth’s best chance so far.

They jumped over the wall dividing Hubert from the rest of the fight and ran to him, sword safely stowed away on their hip. Hubert’s eyes narrowed as he saw them. Magic swirled weakly around his fingers. “Surrender,” Byleth commanded as they approached. 

Hubert snorted humorlessly. “Never,” he all but spat. “I should have disposed of you a long time ago.” 

“Stop this.” Byleth came to a halt, stance firm. They were within striking distance but either Hubert was too weak to fire off a spell, or he was waiting for Byleth to make the first move. Byleth refused to. “Stop fighting. Let me talk to Edelgard.”

Edelgard wouldn’t be so receptive if the other Black Eagles killed her best and most loyal friend. That was half the reason Byleth needed to spare him: to kill Hubert was to kill Edelgard. 

The other half of the reason...

Hubert didn’t hold back the surprise on his face but it did disappear quickly. “Heh. You expect me to believe you invaded the capital to _talk_ to Lady Edelgard?” 

“To talk. To save you both. We don’t have to do things this way.”

“This is the way things have _always_ been done. The Church adores using violence to get what it wants. We merely made the first move.”

“ _Dammit_ , Hubert, stop making me kill you!” Byleth tore the Sword from their belt and tossed it aside. “I’m sick of having your blood on my hands! This could all be avoided if you didn’t want to die so much!”

Hubert raised an arm as Byleth stomped forward. “I would gladly die for Lady Edelgard!”

Byleth roughly pushed his arm aside. “Would you live for _me_?!” Grabbing him roughly by the shoulders, bracing themselves for the Miasma they knew Hubert had prepared, Byleth pulled him into a kiss. 

It would be some kind of irony for Hubert to die now, so Byleth, mindful of how much trouble Hubert was having breathing after the gambit hit, pulled back after a brief moment. Their lips tingled where they had met his. 

Then the dark purple magic that had been floating in Byleth’s periphery faded and Hubert was surging back in for another kiss. This was more desperate than the last. More passionate than their first embrace after Byleth had escaped the darkness Solon had trapped them in. Hubert kissed like he was trying to savor them, like he was trying to make up for every kiss they could have shared these past five years. 

When Hubert pulled away, he lowered his head so he was looking at Byleth through his dark bangs. “Have you truly killed me so much?” He asked quietly. If they weren’t still clinging to each other, Byleth might have missed the question.

“Yes,” they breathed. “I’ve lost you almost a dozen times. Don’t make me do it again. _Please_ , Hubert.”

“Lady Edelgard would speak peacefully with you, I know it. _Only_ with you. But there are other forces at work that would not allow such a meeting.”

“Let me help. I can--”

A gentle kiss cut Byleth off. “I’m sorry.” Hubert drew back, magic igniting his hand once again. “Words cannot help you now.”

Byleth clenched their teeth, lay their palms flat against Hubert’s chest, and cast a Heal on him. Hubert let out a gasp as the magic healed his ribs and lungs. As he stumbled back, Byleth hit him over the head with a gauntlet-covered fist. Hubert fell to the ground-- unmoving but breathing. Byleth felt a weight leave their shoulders as Caspar called out that the battle was over. A cheer went through the Church’s army-- Enbarr was theirs. 

Byleth knelt beside Hubert, ignoring the swarming troops. Some blood was welling up from the head wound he had just received. Byleth cast another Heal to close it up. “I can do this,” they promised him. “When you wake up, the war will be over. Edelgard will be alive. Rest now.”

With a nod to Caspar, Byleth watched him lift Hubert and carry him away to safety. Seteth approached with a disapproving frown on his face. Understandable. So few had known of Byleth’s plan. Seteth was utterly convinced there was no peace to be found here. 

But as Byleth watched Caspar handle Hubert with care, as they turned to face the gates of the castle where Edelgard was planning her last stand, Byleth knew they had to try anyway. 


End file.
